Prefabricated miterless corner moulding



Dec. 8, 1959 Filed July 23, 1958 E. J. HILLMANN PREFABRICATED MITERLESS CORNER MOULDING 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. EDMUND JJULLMH NH Dec. 8, 1959 E. J. HILLMANN PREFABRICATED MITERLESS Comma MOULDING 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed July 23, 1958 IN V EN TOR. EDMUND J- IIILLNHNN PREFABRICATED MITERLESS CORNER MOULDING Edmund J. Hillmann, Hawthorne, N .J

Application July 23, 1958, Serial No. 750,530

4 Claims. CI. 20-44) invention relates to a building construction de-v vice and more particularly to a corner moulding piece to be used for joining strips of moulding material at corners.

In the finishing of the inner space of buildings and particularly the rooms of dwellings it is the usual practice to apply a wooden moulding strip of a selected design to the right angled junctures of walls and floors. Such moulding strips running along the wall surface and corresponding floor or ceiling surface are generally joined to similar moulding strips running along adjacent walls by mitering the two moulding strips at the corner of the two adjacent wall surfaces. The mitered joint. thus formed is subject to inherent disadvantages. It must be hand sawed on the job and consequently the accuracy of the cut and the tightness of the joint depend upon the skill and care of the carpenter. Even a tight perfectly mitered joint may separate in time due to the material shrinkage of the wood or failure of the nailing. Whatever the cause the resulting crack becomes a harbor for dirt and insects and if subject to excessive moisture wood rot may result,

Various attempts have been made to provide corner pieces which will eliminate the necessity for mitering the corner junctures of moulding strips. Corner moulding sections have been prefabricated from solid pieces of wood conforming to the contour of the moulding. Similar prefabricated corner sections have been made from rubber or plastic compositions. These devices are subject to the disadvantages that they must be secured independently to the wall and/ or the flooring and must form butt joints with the moulding runner strips. The former requires the use of nails or cement and the latter require accurate cutting of the runner strips and are subject to separation due to shrinkage of either the runners, the corner pieces or both.

In view of these and other disadvantages of such former devices and customary practices, it is an object of the present invention to provide a corner moulding piece which can be installed easily without the use of any independent securing means.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a means for joining moulding runners at corners which eliminates the necessity for mitering or other accurate cutting of the runner pieces.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a moulding corner piece which will not separate at any point within its own structure and will not separate from the moulding runners which it joins.

With these and other related objects in mind this invention consists in the construction and combination of the parts described below. It will be understood that the particular design of the mouldings used in the illustration of the invention have no limiting aspects and that the invention may be applied to any moulding design however simple or ornate. In the accompanying drawings to which reference is made in the description:

Fig. 1 is an isometric view of an inside corner mouldthe outer shell consisting of two angularly disposed arms ing having one of its arms partly cut away to show itsinternal structure, the other arm showing a section of a trim moulding recessed into its end socket.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the corner moulding of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation view of the corner moulding of Fig. 1.

Fig.4 is an isometric view of an outside corner moulding showing parts of trim moulding recessed into the ends of both arms.

Fig. 5 is a top plan view of the corner moulding of Fig. 4. I

Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the corner moulding of Fig. 4.

Fig. 7 is a face view of a partial door, window or picture frame showing two corner mouldings embodying the 7 present invention.

Fig. 8 is a face plan view of one of the corner mouldings of Fig. 7.

v7, 8 and 9. The corner mouldings of this invention are preferably made in one piece from a material which may be moulded, extruded or die cast to form the desired shape and the functional parts of the corner moulding but may also be assembled from their preselected component parts. A particularly efficacious manner of producing these corner mouldings is to mould them by extrusion from a plastic material such as polystyrene. If it is desired to make them of wood, the outside shell conforming to the pattern of the moulding should be pressure moulded from mouldable Wood fibres and the internal functional members to be described below should 7 be made of solid pieces of wood, pressed 'wood, plastic or metal and adhesively affixed to the inner side of the shell.

In the modifications of Figs. 1 and 4, 10 designates 11 and 12. These arms extend generally at right angles to each other and their planes are also at right angles. Each arm is moulded to conform to the contour of the trim moulding pieces which are to be joined. The moulding pieces consist ofa wallpiece 13 and a quarter round floor piece 14. The corner moulding outer shell 10 fits over both of these pieces. A rib member 15 conforming on its outer side to the contour of the moulding is integrally moulded or adhesively aiiixed to the inner surface of each of the arms 11 and 12... The inner sides 16 and the bottom sides 17 of the rib members 15 are square to each other and so spaced as to fit snugly against the wall 1 18 and the floor 19 respectively. These rib members 15 serve as stops'for the square cut ends of the wall and floor molding runners 13 and 14. Integrally moulded or adhesively attached to each rib member 15, approximately midway of its height and flush with its inner side 16, is a tongue member 20, so positioned as to be contact with the wall when the corner moulding is in place and adapted to recess into the kerf which commonly is j cut into the rear side of trim' moulding pieces. 'The thickness of the tongue member 20 "should not be any greater'than the depth'ofthe kerf cut '21 and preferably} should approximate it so as to assurea tight fit 'When the earner meaning isin place arid-the wan moulding 13 has been inserted into the open ends of its respective arms 11 and 12 only the wall moulding 13 need be nailed or otherwise secured to the wall. The tongues 20 of the corner moulding recessed behind the wall moulding Patented Dec. 8, 1959 13 will firmly lock the corner moulding in place elimimating the necessity for nailing.

After installation of the wall moulding 13 the shoe or floor moulding 14, if a separate piece as in the modifications of Figs. 1 and 4, is next placed in position Since the corner moulding is already locked in place by the cooperation of the tongue 2.0 inserted into the wall moulding kerf 21, the shoe moulding will slide into place in locked relation with section 22 of the respective arms 11 and 12 of the corner moulding. Section 22 is an in tegral part of the said arms contoured to receive the shoe moulding and fit tightly over it. In instances where the shoe moulding is integral with and part of the design of the wall moulding it will be understood that the entire runner moulding is inserted into the corner moulding in a single step and locxed into place by the tongue 29 recessed into kerf 21.

Since at least the outside shell of the corner moulding of this invention is of single piece construction it will not separate at the corner 23 where otherwise there would be a mitered joint subject to separation due to shrinking or other causes. No nailing of the corner moulding at any point is necessary due to the interlocking feature of the tongue 2% recessing into the kerf out 2-1 of the wall moulding. This feature also draws the shoe moulding 14 tightly against the wall moulding l3 and prevents separation of joint 24' due to shrinkage, warping or nailing failure. Although the best results are obtained by cutting the wall and shoe moulding squarely at accurate lengths so that a holding pressure is exerted longitudinally against the rib stops 15, thus insuring a tight fit in the wall corner 25, nevertheless such accurate cutting is not necessary. The trimmer may cut the trim or moulding out of square or short of the length necessary to abut the rib member so long as the trim length is not too short to recess into the arm socket 26 of the corner moulding. Any defects in the cutting or other irregularities in the end of the trim will be completely concealed behind the corner moulding shell ill There will be no unsightly nail holes in the corner moulding, thus reducing the number of such holes in the trim job to be filled by the finisher.

Since the shell 10 of the corner moulding of this invcntion overlaps rather than abuts the trim runners there necessarily will be a ridge 27 equal to the thickness of the shell. Although this is a departure from the architectural appearance of conventional practice where the trim is self-mitered at the corners it is not a disadvantage. To the contrary it adds architectural interest to the trim at the corner.

The device shown in Figs. 7, 8 and 9 is the same in principle with that of Figs. 1 and 4 but differs in construction in that the arms 31 and 32 of the corner moulding shell 39 are in the same plane since the trim mouldings 33 and 34- which are to be joined are in the same plane. In this modification in addition to the parts already identified 35 is the tongue member and 36 the rib or brace corresponding functionally to the tongues and ribs 15 of Fig. 1. Also in this modification it is desirable that the tongues extend a short distance beyond the ends of the corner moulding arms 31 and 32 so that if a tight fit is not achieved with the trim mouldings a nail may be driven through the trim moulding adjacent the end of the arm member into which it is inserted and through the extended portion of the tongue. This allows for more versatility in the cutting of the trim moulding used with this particular modification.

The foregoing description and drawings are intended to be illustrative of the invention rather than limiting since the invention may be variously embodied. The scope of the invention is to be determined as claimed.

Having now set forth and disclosed the nature of this invention, what I claim as new is:

l. A corner moulding device comprising an outer shell having two integrally connected angularly disposed arms, said shell being hollow and contoured to receive in each arm and fit over a selected trim moulding shape; a rib member attached to the inner surface of each arm and projecting inwardly at right angles to the plane of the arm member to which it is attached a distance equal to the thickness of the trim moulding, said rib member being contoured on its outer edge to match the contouring of the arm to which it is attached and having otherwise plane surfaces; and a tongue member attached to the innermost side of said rib and in the same plane therewith extending outwardly from the rib member a distance at least coextensive with the outer edge of the arm.

2. A corner moulding device comprising an outer shell having two integrally connected arms disposed at right angles to each other, said shell being hollow and contoured to conform to the shape of a selected trim moulding and adapted to receive a generally square cut piece of said trim moulding in each hollow arm; a rib member integral with the inner surface of each arm and projecting inwardly at right angles to the arm member of which it is a part a distance equal to the thickness of the trim moulding, said rib member having plane and squared inner surfaces; and a tongue member integral with the innermost side of said rib and in the same plane therewith extending outwardly from the rib member a distance at least coextensive with the outer edge of the arm.

3. A corner moulding device comprising an outer shell having two integrally connected arms disposed in planes at right angles to each other, said shell being hollow and contoured to conform to the shape of a selected trim moulding and adapted to receive a generally square cut piece of said trim moulding in each hollow arm; a rib member integral with the inner surface of each arm and projecting inwardly at right angles to the arm member of which it is a part a distance equal to the thickness of the trim moulding, said rib member having plane inner and bottom surfaces squared to each other; and a tongue member integral with the innermost side of said rib member and lying in the same plane therewith extending outwardly from the rib member a distance at least coextensive with the outer edge of the arm, said tongue member being adapted to engage the end of a trim moulding being inserted into the arm and recess into a kerf cut on the unexposed side of said trim moulding.

4. A corner moulding device comprising an outer shell having two integrally connected arms disposed at right angles to each other in the same plane, said shell being hollow and contoured to conform to the shape of a selected trim moulding and adapted to receive a generally I square cut piece of said trim moulding; a rib member integral with the inner surface of each arm and projecting inwardly at right angles to the arm member of which it is a part a distance equal to the thickness of the trim moulding, said rib member having its inner surfaces squared to each other; and a tongue member integral with the innermost side of the rib member and lying in the same plane therewith extending outwardly from the rib member to a distance shortly beyond the end of the arm.

Sallada June 25, 1878 Swendsen Feb. 937 

